LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters — Minutes St. Louis, Missouri — May 16–17, 2013, Page 2

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Article XII 7 of the Synod’s Constitution declares, “The district presidents shall, moreover,
especially exercise supervision over the doctrine, life, and administration of office of the
ordained and commissioned ministers of their district….”
Does Article XI grant to the President of the Synod authority to supervise the doctrine or
administration of individual or congregation members of the Synod not listed in Article XI,
or is that the responsibility of a district president under Article XII 7?
Opinion: Serving as a constitutional foundation for ecclesiastical supervision, Article III (Objectives) of
the Constitution states:
8.
Provide evangelical supervision, counsel, and care for pastors, teachers, and other
professional church workers of the Synod in the performance of their official duties;
9.
Provide protection for congregations, pastors, teachers, and other church workers in the
performance of their official duties and the maintenance of their rights.

The ultimate responsibility for supervision in the Synod resides with the President of the Synod.
Specifically, in the case of the supervision of individual and congregation members of the Synod,
Constitution Art. XII 7 indicates that it is to be carried out through the district president.
Article XI B 1 of the Synod’s Constitution does grant the President of the Synod “the supervision
regarding the doctrine and the administration of “a. All officers of the Synod; b. All such as are
employed by the Synod; c. The individual districts of the Synod; [and] d. All district presidents.”
Article XI B 1 does not grant to the President of the Synod authority to supervise directly the doctrine or
administration of individual or congregation members of the Synod. Relevant bylaws of the Synod are in
harmony with this limitation of the Synod President’s authority:
•
•

As the chief ecclesiastical office of the Synod, the President shall supervise the doctrine taught and
practices in the Synod, including all synodwide corporate entities. [Bylaw 3.3.1.1]
The President of the Synod has ecclesiastical supervision of all officers of the Synod and its agencies, the
individual districts of the Synod, and all district presidents. [Bylaw 3.3.1.1.1]

This chain of supervision is made clear in Bylaw 3.3.1.1.1 (b), which clarifies the Synod President’s
authority: “(b) In the districts of the Synod, he shall carry out his ecclesiastical duties through the
district’s president.” [Emphasis added]
Under Constitution Article XII 7, the Synod has given the responsibility for supervision of the doctrine or
administration of individual or congregation members of the Synod to the district president:
7.

The district presidents shall, moreover, especially exercise supervision over the doctrine, life, and
administration of office of the ordained and commissioned ministers of their district and acquaint
themselves with the religious conditions of the congregations of their district. To this end, they shall visit
and, according as they deem it necessary, hold investigations in the congregations. Their assistants in this
work are the circuit counselors, who therefore shall regularly make their reports to the district president.

Bylaw 4.4.5 lays out this responsibility of the district president:
4.4.5

Each district president, in accordance with the Constitution of the Synod, shall supervise the doctrine,
the life, and the official administration on the part of the ordained or commissioned ministers who are
members through his district or are subject to his ecclesiastical supervision, and shall inquire into the
prevailing spiritual conditions of the congregations of his district.
(a) As often as possible, he shall attend the conferences of ordained and commissioned ministers held
in his district, advise the congregations of his district as to the calling of ordained and commissioned
ministers, give counsel, and respond to requests and inquiries.
CCM Minutes – May 2013 – Page 358